Benni McCarthy has explained why AmaZulu did not sign former Orlando Pirates forward Justin Shonga.
The 24-year-old striker was training with Usuthu, aiming to secure himself a deal with McCarthy’s side after his deal with Cape Town City came to an end.
However, the reigning DStv Premiership Coach of the Season has clarified that he felt the forward’s lack of game-time over the last two campaigns left him short of enough match fitness to better what Usuthu already have at the club.
“We had an opportunity, I was asked about Justin Shonga and he was a player he wanted to come and train,” he said during a press conference.
“He wanted to come and see if he can add something different to the squad and I said yes, I like the boy, I like the player. If he comes, he will just have to show me what he’s got. So, he was training with us with a view that we might sign him, if we like what we see and if he offers something different than what we already have.
“He’s been really good, and he’s worked exceptionally hard. But I think the fact that he hasn’t played as much in the last two seasons just put him on the back foot a little bit and unfortunately we need urgent. We need a player to come in and just be able to click like that with the team and give us the goals and give us what we need.
“Unfortunately for him, the position we were looking for was for somebody to come in and be better than the strikers we have or give us something different to the strikers that we have.
“With Justin, we needed time to get him to that level, but time is not on our side. We’ve got so many competitions, the MTN8 is upon us, the CAF Champions League is coming, the league is starting. So, how much time we might need to get him to there, as maybe by then your rivals have put daylight between you and them. So, unfortunately, it was maybe not to be.
“Wrong timing maybe, for him. We won’t be signing Justin. It’s unfortunate for him because I think the boy does have a lot of quality, he’s very good. Unfortunately for him we just don’t have the time to get him back to that level.”
